Conor Friedersdorf suggests an honest email for FreedomWorks, which just paid Dick Armey eight million dollars to go away:
[T]he resignation of Dick Armey as chairman of our organization after a dispute with Matt Kibbe, our president, has prompted us to initiate a new fundraising campaign: when infighting next threatens to embarrass or destroy our organization, we'll have cash on hand to buy off the appropriate party. You see, in Washington D.C. think tank circles, big egos and personal pique are common, especially among the sorts of people who rise to leadership positions.
Strange as it may seem to those of you in the rest of America, the city where we're headquartered (and from which we won't relocate) is so corrupting and entitled that a man who spends years soliciting money from hardworking Americans on behalf of a non-profit would often sooner see it damaged or destroyed than to step down quietly. In fairness, sometimes the malcontent in question has a legitimate grievance -- it's often difficult to judge these things from the outside -- but his eagerness to tell the truth about questionable behavior (exposing it to the liberal media) can usually be successfully reined in with a seven figure "golden parachute."
In this town, that's the price of fighting the takers on behalf of the makers.
